Saturday, May 29, 2010

In this week’s address, President Barack Obama asked all Americans to join him in remembering and honoring our men and women in uniform who have died in service to the country. The commitment these heroes have demonstrated – the willingness to lay down their lives so the rest of us might inherit the blessings of this nation – has helped make America the most prosperous, most powerful nation on earth and it is what we honor on Memorial Day.

I don't know if people understand the magnitude of this, but we are talking about no seafood from the Gulf (and the Gulf is responsible for 18-22% of the seafood consumption in the United States), ecological damage for years to come, economic disaster and very angry people in the Gulf Coast Region.

New oil flow estimates by scientists studying the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico would make the leak the worst in the nation's history, far bigger than 11 million gallons that spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster.

U.S. Geological Survey Director Dr. Marcia McNutt said the results are preliminary, but that two teams using different methods determined the well that exploded April 20 and sank two days later has spilled between 17 and 39 million gallons.

Earlier, more conservative estimates put the amount of crude oil at 7 million gallons.

The USGS estimates are bad news for President Barack Obama's administration and BP, which have taken a public relations beating as a result of the spill.

BP is trying to stop the leak by flooding the well with mud and then capping it with cement, a procedure known as a "top kill."

Video of the spill site appeared to show mud, and not oil, flowing from the blown-out well, hours after BP started the operation.

"It wouldn’t be reasonable for anybody to draw a conclusion from that until we’ve killed the well for good," BP managing director Bob Dudley told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira.

"The operation continues," Dudley said, but it is "too early to draw conclusions from it."

Well, somebody had to go over that pimped out department called Minerals Management Services or MMS under the Interior Department. President Obama fires her. Well, he should and I say, get rid of Secretary Ken Salazar while you are at it. This alone is offensive and worth firing, though Birnbaum is after the fact.

CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports inspectors even went so far as to let oil companies literally fill out their own inspection reports using pencils. MMS inspectors would write on top of the pencil in ink and turn in the completed form.

And we won't talk about all the bribes, sex, drugs for oil leases to the mighty oil companies. Talk about too close for comfort? It is utterly disgraceful and due to all of this we have the worst environmental disaster, EVER, worse than the Exxon-Valdez.

The Obama administration has fired the head of the U.S. Minerals Management Service in response to blistering criticism over the federal government's lax oversight of BP and the rest of the offshore oil industry, Democratic sources told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The decision about Elizabeth "Liz" Birnbaum, who has run the service in the Interior Department since July 2009, was among the announcements being made Thursday by President Barack Obama.

The president's response to the five-week-old spill has prompted growing criticism about leadership from the White House, even as BP's efforts to stanch the leak are finally showing some promise.

Do they realize that they look and sound like the keystone cops, or worse, the Bush Administration?

And none of this is laughable....

The interview below is from Rachel Maddow with Energy Secretary, Steven Chu. I want everyone to understand something, perception matters. Ask former Prime Minister Gordon Brown after calling a constituent a "bigot". That one liner sealed the deal for many Brits who voted for the other guy. Chu's demeanor is that of academia, but when you have the public starting to fester in anger with people that DEPEND on their livelihood in conjunction with the BP Oil Spill disaster, I would THINK emotions of empathy is warranted. First video is with Ann Thompson, the second with Steven Chu. And the part from Chu that he only knows what he reads in the papers, is well, flabbergasting.

As Donna Brazile stated to Howard Fineman, "Where is the Fierce Urgency of Now". This from Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

The problem with all of this is that when you have a spill that is uncontrollable and the public SEES IT live daily, the reality really starts to sink in. The reality is that the Gulf Coast may not ever recover from this for DECADES. Then we have to witness ineptness and dishonesty of BP in relations to the TRUTH of what is actually happening, we know that the Obama Administration has very little if any solutions to fix this problem. It means that the Obama White House relies on BP for getting this spill capped and so far, BP gets an "F" in everything associated with this disaster.

Remember, George W. Bush was refuted by the public and it started with his handling of Hurricane Katrina. Bush's claim to fame photo of him flying over the Katrina disaster will be remembered for years to come. A photo of the leader of this country looking not engaged. Barack Obama appearing to be "MIA", is not good EITHER. Natural and man made disasters happens EVERY DAY, but people of this country elect individuals, parties, and presidents to be on the ball to fix it. Most importantly the public expects the truth as it become known, UP FRONT. BP did not do this and many, if you asked on the street, could not tell you what the hell the Obama Administration is doing about it. That is just the truth. Yes, you will post links, etc., but don't do it for me, this administration needs to CONSTANTLY communicate this to the public. That is not happening on the ground, but miscommunication and perceptions are starting to take place.

I know, another faux outrage diary, but the reality is that on the communication tip, the Obama White House gets an "F" as well. The "F" is for AGAIN, losing the narrative of this oil spill. We saw this last summer with the health care bill, which is now law.

Lastly, Obama White House please put people on television that one can at least, BELIEVE what they are saying? Just as the lack of communication is a killer, the belief that BP will make the Gulf Coast "whole again" is not just believable, as we all are reading this KNOW IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.

This oil spill will destroy the Gulf Coast as we know it and that is the DAILY FEAR that people of this region is coming to grips with. They have every right to be angry because it not only affects them but every person in the United States of America.

Update [2010-5-25 14:21:54 by icebergslim]:Glad to see people ENGAGED, now we need to get the WH engaged. I don't like that Obama is flying around for fundraisers and coming back to CHI, my home city, Chicago. But he needs a break and the Chicago Police needs more to do, other than having gun shootouts which is happening daily here. But for those who want David Axelrod out, here he is on several news programs. Click on the link when he was on Hardball, it was then that I knew this man needs to be sent packing. Videos, links here....

Update [2010-5-25 15:55:59 by icebergslim]:As I predicted, President Obama will be in the Gulf Coast on Friday before he jets to Chicago for the Memorial Day Weekend. My advice to POTUS, cop a squat on a cot and keep RETURNING to the Gulf Coast, WEEKLY...

Monday, May 24, 2010

Above is White House Senior Strategist to the President, David Axelrod. When you listen to the whole exchange, he defends BP and what they are doing.

Below at the White House Press Conference with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the point man for this oil spill Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen was there to answer questions about what is being done to cap this oil spill. My question immediately was this, "Why is Allen at this presser and does the White House have poll numbers showing the public turning against them not doing enough?" I have to ask that because up until lately the White House has deferred everything about this oil spill to BP. So to see Allen, who has been in the Gulf, at this presser was unusual for me.

"The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume," he said.

Do you think that BP really gives a damn while they have pissed in our pool? Do you think they care? And the government? They are clueless too!! And this from Hardball and the dodge ball that was in play with David Axelrod. The anger in the Gulf is WHITE HOT and the reality is that BP nor the government do not know what to do. Finally, Mike Papantonio laid it on the line about what is going on in the Gulf. The people are angry and tired of just talk from BP and the government. They do not want anymore speeches but action. The anger at BP is real and the perceived slow response from the U.S. Government. The people in the Gulf Coast want Barack Obama to sound like Huey Long not Ghandi, no more Kumbaya speeches. (Papantonio words, not mine's) The video is here, I would post it but from MSNBC. To think that people are not getting angry, think again.

For many on this site or just Democrats to think that this is a minor blip is crazy. This is not a minor blip, this is impacting a large portion of the United States of America, which has possibly gone into the channel to the upward Eastern Seashores. It is also our fault. Yes, OUR FAULT for not standing and stepping up. From Reagan to Obama, this country has been all about drilling. Even while this catastrophe is going onto DAY 35, we are still seeing oil drilling leases given out.

For me, I don't live in the Gulf Coast but my father does. He loves to fish and go to the beautiful, pristine beaches in Pensacola. Soon, and we all know it, will be toxic with BP's oil. This is the time for this country to say enough, but will we? I don't think so, we are too selfish.

And President Obama? He is caught between a rock and a hard place. I would like to see him LEAD and do it, but I realize that you can not lead when you don't know how to get out of the situation you are in. President Obama is in a tight situation. He has that oil pumping toxins at an incredible speed, he does not know how to stop it, we are entering hurricane season, he has to go back and forth with BP, and he is realizing that just saying that it is "BP's FAULT" is not enough. The public needs to see President Obama GO THE FUCK OFF on these oil companies. But he won't. He is stuck. He is stuck by his words and the reality that he doesn't have the man power to fix the mess BP has created. At this point, everything on the table is a "maybe", not a "guarantee", while the public is getting more angry.

Every citizen has a right to be angry at a huge oil company that drills into the earth for the oil, but when a disaster happens they all of a sudden never really had a workable plan. And every citizen has a right to be angry at the Interior Department of this country that just signed off on a plan, that they probably never questioned, asked or reasoned about. They just signed off, because the company was "BP".

Update [2010-5-24 20:9:46 by icebergslim]:From Keith Olbermann, I mean this is unbelievable. BP was told to use less dangerous toxins in the water from the EPA and BP said, "NO". WHO IS RUNNING THIS? Then the EPA asks BP to consider using less toxins to disperse the oil. Again, this is the problem from the White House. This is a catastrophe and the White House is acting like this is no big deal. WHITE HOUSE this is a big deal and many have LOST ELECTED SEATS with actions like this. Ask George W. Bush and the Republicans. Will post video when it is up. Unbelievable.

subscribe hereicebergslim on Daily Kos ShareNote: If you are viewing this in Firefox, on 17" monitor or smaller, the left panel may be blown. This is a firefox issue, if you view this in IE, Safari, Opera, Google Chrome, no issue. FYI.